Baseball
Baseball Knocks Off Big Ten Power Indiana
March 13, 2004
BRADENTON, Fla. - Three products of Warwick, R.I.'s Pilgrim High School helped lead the University of Rhode Island baseball team to a 7-6 win over Big Ten power Indiana on Saturday.
Sophomore Zach Zuercher (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim) hit a triple that plated the tying run in the eighth inning and then scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by his high school teammate Dan Tucker (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim) that proved to be the game winning RBI. Zuercher finished 2-for-4 with a RBI and run scored.
Another Pilgrim High grad, sophomore Gil Pina (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim) earned his first collegiate win, pitching 4 2/3 innings of two-hit relief. Pina retired the first 13 batters he faced, before giving up two hits in the ninth. He entered the game with the bases loaded in the fifth inning and gave up a sacrifice fly and a ground out that plated the go-ahead run for Indiana.
Pina got out of the inning with the Rams trailing 6-5 and cruised until the ninth, when junior Mike Lefort (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) came on with two outs and runners on first and second, and got Corby Heckman to fly out to deep left field to end the game.
Freshman Steve Holmes (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) started the game and pitched four innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs, while striking out seven and walking one.
The win was the Rams second against a Big Ten team in school history, the other also coming against the Hoosiers. Rhode Island snapped Indiana's six-game winning streak and dropped the Hoosiers to 7-6 on the season. The Rams had also ended Eastern Kentucky's nine-game winning streak with a 3-0 win Friday.
Rhody trailed 6-5 in the eighth inning when junior Matt Sullivan (Nashua, N.H.) singled with one out. Senior Dan Batz (Mohnton, Pa.) pinch ran for Sullivan and Zuercher followed with a triple to center field to score Batz and tie the game at 6-6.
Rhode Island coach Frank Leoni put on the suicide squeeze and Tucker got the ball down, allowing Zuercher to score what proved to be the winning run.
Rhode Island trailed 3-0 after the first inning, but plated five runs in the third inning, three coming on a triple by junior Mike Rainville (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Hendricken). Freshman Scott Brown (Portland, Maine) went 2-for-5, including a two-run single in the third.
The Rams (5-9-1) finished their Florida trip 5-3-1 having won their last two.
Rhode Island 7, Indiana 6 Rhode Island 005 000 020 - 7 9 4 Indiana 300 030 000 - 6 8 1 URI - Holmes, Pina (5), Lefort (9) and Tucker; IU - Lewis, Pegg (3) and Wargo. WP - Pina (1-0) S - Lefort (2) LP - Pegg
